Donnelly bill addresses suicide in the military

April 30, 2013|South Bend Tribune Report

U.S. Sen. Joe Donnelly, D-Granger, has introduced his first bill as a member of the Senate.

The Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act would establish a pilot program in each of the military services and reserve components to integrate annual mental health assessments into a service member's Periodic Health Assessment, or PHA.

It also would identify risk factors for mental illness so that service members can access preventive care.

"In 2012, approximately 349 members of the United States Military, including active duty, guard and reserve, committed suicide, more than the total number of service members who died in combat operations," Donnelly said in a statement. "This number does not even include the more than 6,000 veterans who committed suicide in 2012. This is unacceptable. This has to end."

He continued, "I'm naming this bill after a member of the Indiana National Guard, Jacob Sexton, a native of Farmland, Ind., who tragically took his own life in 2009 while home on a 15-day leave from Afghanistan. My hope is that we can help men and women like Jacob who are struggling with mental health issues, to get them the help they need before they resort to taking their own life."

The bill (S. 810) has been assigned to the Senate Armed Services Committee for further study.